Assignment of swimmers to dual meet events

Authors:
Maciek Nowak;Marina Epelman;Stephen M. Pollock
Affiliations:
Department of Management, Marketing and Logistics, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA;Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI;Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Venue:
Computers and Operations Research
Year:
2006

Citing 4
Cited 1

Integer and combinatorial optimization

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OR Practice---Training Optimization for the Decathlon

Operations Research

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Abstract

Every fall, thousands of high school swimming coaches across the country begin the arduous process of preparing their athletes for competition. With a grueling practice schedule and a dedicated group of athletes, a coach can hone the squad into a cohesive unit, poised for any competition. However, oftentimes all preparation is in vain, as coaches assign swimmers to events with a lineup that is far from optimal. This paper provides a model that may help a high school (or other level) swim team coach make these assignments. Following state and national guidelines for swim meets, we describe a binary integer model that determines an overall assignment that maximizes the total number of points scored by the squad based on the times for swimmers on the squad and for the expected opponent.